Arts 2 People announces the opening of the Artist Resource Center in Asheville

Arts 2 People
PO Box 1093
Asheville, NC 28802
info@arts2people.org
www.arts2people.org
Contact: Kitty Love, Executive Director, 828-216-8815

Arts 2 People announces the opening of the Artist Resource Center

(Asheville, NC) Arts 2 People, an Asheville-based non-profit devoted to promoting the role of the arts as an integral part of our culture , announces the institution of an Artist Resource Center (ARC).  The ARC will provide programmatic assistance to art-centric entrepreneurs invested in diversifying their business management skills and enhance their ability to benefit from the current revitalization and economic development in downtown Asheville. The Artist Resource Center will teach artists the business skills necessary to make their creative endeavors economically viable and sustainable.

Essentially a career center where artist entrepreneurs can hone business management and other practical skills, the ARC will feature workshops and classes specifically geared toward fostering the growth of local creative professionals. In an economic environment where it is often difficult for small business owners to invest in the equipment needed to evolve, the ARC will provide access to the equipment, training, and support that they require to make the next step.

“The ARC will be of pivotal importance for Asheville’s aspiring creative professionals and the local economy,” says Kitty Love, Executive Director of Arts2People. Asheville thrives off of its art scene, and the ARC offers tools to help facilitate and nurture artists in business. This will create a symbiotic relationship between cultural creatives and the greater community.”

Course offerings at the ARC will include classes on grant-writing, web marketing, bookkeeping with an extensive curriculum designed to give students a strategic approach to launching a productive career. Access to state-of-the-art equipment, software, and peripherals will be available to members and students to utilize for the promotion and development of their businesses. While classes and equipment are essential tools, the ARC also provides a means for artists to connect with a supportive network of peers, one of the most essential yet overlooked pathways to success.

As the Center grows, ARC will  develop an online search engine interface providing the community at large digital access to a plethora of resources including: means for creative professionals to link to resources and each other, a virtual marketplace where artists can broker their work, creative services, or studio spaces, as well as listings of available resources for production. The potential of this comprehensive database will continue to unfold as the ARC’s impact on the community deems its necessity. As artists gain success through the ARC’s programming, Arts 2 People will continue to grow the program to match the needs of the community.

“If our local artist-entrepreneurs manage to build businesses and take advantage of the opportunities that exist here, it will benefit everyone as it solidifies economic success and increases the culture of creativity we already enjoy,” says Love. “What the ARC means for the economy of Asheville, a city with a brisk tourist economy based in no small part on its thriving arts scene, should not be underestimated”.

In collaboration with the YMI Cultural Center, Arts 2 People will house the ARC in one of the historic auxilliary storefronts on Market St. In an effort to work in unison with the Downtown Master Plan Strategy 1 Initiatives that call for the “cultivation of strong links between the cultural district and the Eagle/Market St. district”, Arts 2 People is pleased to have the opportunity to support and facilitate this economically strategic investment for the future of all of Downtown Asheville and the amazing creatives that make this city unique. The Performance Center, planned for nearby, is supportive and will be an active partner of the ARC. The target launch date for the ARC is set for mid-February and  Arts2People is currently seeking Instructors to fulfill all curriculum coursework. For more information, or to submit a class proposal form, please visit arts2people.org or email kitty@arts2people.org.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Funding for this program was made possible by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that serves the 18 county mountain region by professionally managing charitable funds created by individuals and families, and by using those funds to make grants to local nonprofit organizations.

This program is funded, in part, by a Grassroots Arts Program Grant of the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, and the Asheville Area Arts Council.

Arts2People is an Asheville-based non-profit dedicated to the nurturing, promotion and effective expansion of the local arts scene. The organization is responsible for multiple programs that are proven bright spots in the Asheville cultural landscape — the Lexington Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF), the Asheville Mural Project (responsible for the Lexington I-240 overpass mural) and the REACH educational program, are just a few of the great programs under Arts2People’s umbrella.

Please visit us on our website:    http://arts2people.org/

Please visit our Facebook pages:     Arts 2 People Page and Group page.

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Murals to Beautify & Revitalize: AMP hired to paint a Mural on the Historic Cotton Mill Studios in Asheville

The Asheville Mural Project, a program of Arts 2 People, exists to beautify and diversify Asheville’s urban landscape, providing artists and local community members with the opportunity to implement their own public art. AMP believes that murals enhance quality of life and create an artful metropolitan experience through the transformation of conventional architecture. The murals are both the testimony and celebration of a lively local arts culture.

AMP is making Asheville a city where the mural arts are celebrated and has joined forces with local professional muralists to create the highest  quality art which will serve as lasting monuments. This is testified to in a recent article from Kent Ohio point directly to inspiration from AMP’s Lexington Gateway Mural for the making of their own city mural. Read below for more info a new mural that was just comissioned by The Cotton Mill Studios in Asheville!

A Case using Murals to Beautify and Revitalize: AMP hired to paint a Mural on the Historic Cotton Mill Studios:

The Historic Cotton Mill Studios, located in the River Arts District of Asheville, NC is what remains of the Cotton Mill Complex which was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1995. The building was purchased by potters Eileen & Marty Black (The Potter’s Mark Ltd.) in 2002 and is the home to nine artists.

The North side of the building indicates where the fire stopped, burning up to the wall.  The building was saved both by an operating sprinkler system and a shift in the winds away from the building.

pre-mural &post-fire view of the old Cotton Mill's north side

Unfortunately, this was the view [Left] of the River Arts District to passersby’s on the Smokey Park Bridge over the French Broad river. It made the River Arts District look like a burned out slum. After Purchasing the building Marty & Eileen began a facelift to improve the image and Identity of the River Arts District. They started by cleaning and painting the burned out side wall so the view from the bridge would be more appealing, hopefully attracting more visitors to the area.

Symbol for the River Arts District and view of the north side of the Cotton Mill now

The mural symbol they added to the building now identifies the River Arts District. [left].

.

The front of the building [below] also showed signs of the devastating fire and, after many years of looking at it, Eileen and Marty decided that it also needed a facelift.

Front of the Cotton Mill Studio now. Site for the new AMP Mural

Investigating many possibilities the Blacks decided on a mural, but not just any mural, they wanted a “Trompe l’oiel”. Trompe l’œil, (French for ‘deceive the eye’, pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lœj]) is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the impression that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.

Ian Wilkinson the Mural Program Director of the Asheville Mural Project, a program of Asheville’s  non-profit Arts 2 People came up with the ideal solution. This mural [rendering shown below] should be completed  by mid-October 2010.

Projection of what the new AMP Mural will look like on the Cotton Mill Studio

Eileen and Marty hope that this will become a landmark and the beginning of many similar murals on the old buildings of the river Arts District (RAD), resulting in attracting many more tourists to Asheville and the RAD.

____________________________________________________________________

AMP Director Ian Wilkinson hard at work on the Lexington Gateway Mural

About AMP’s Director: Ian Wilkinson has been a professional muralist for fifteen years. He was the lead mural artist for the Holocaust Museum of Virginia. Ian painted murals depicting the Ipsen Family’s escape from the Holocaust, and worked directly with other Holocaust survivors to make detailed drawings that would be used to recreate key points in the museum.  Ian went on to earn his BFA in painting from Adams State College in Colorado. Ian shows his personal work in Santa Fe and private collections across the country. Ian specializes in portraits, realism, and large format work. He is currently the Director of the Asheville Mural Project (AMP), which is a program of Arts 2 People. Ian lives in Asheville with his wife Angeline, daughter Ella and son Augustus.

It is AMP’s goal to make murals an affordable and lasting solution for beautifying and revitalizing buildings, homes, and businesses. The AMP team works closely with clients in the proposal phase of the project. AMP works hard to meet budgetary requirements and navigate the permit processes. All works are created using state-of-the-art materials. The AMP team offers a number of different service agreements for clients to assure our works will stand the test of time and weather. AMP also specializes in child directed murals and offers free lectures and workshops. To find out more about AMP, please visit http://www.arts2people.org/amp.html or email Ian Wilkinson at info@ianthepainter.com.

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LAAFF Mountain Xpress article round-up for the archives

The Mountain Xpress in Asheville printed some wonderful coverage of this years Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF).  I am going to post some exceprts from each with inks to the full articles and intermingle a few of my shots from the fest… Check it out.

Great article on the LAAFF Music, the Asheville Music Scene, and the evolution thereof:

Rockin’ in the freak world

This year’s LAAFF music lineup is more indie than ever

by Alli Marshall in Vol. 17 / Iss. 06 on 08/31/2010

Molly Kummerle of Paper Tiger

Browsing old Xpress coverage of the inaugural LAAFF turned up this walk down memory lane: “More than 25 local acts [are] scheduled to appear on two stages. Highlights include Devilish Mary (all-girl string band with Cary Fridley, performing at noon); The Oxymorons Comedy Troupe; rising rock stars Drug Money; West African drum-and-dance group Ballet Warraba; and celebrated burlesque troupe The Rebelles.”

Yes, it was just as eclectic seven years ago as it will be this year, only this year there are almost twice as many acts and six stages. And, there’s another notable difference: This year’s LAAFF takes on an indie-rock flavor that it’s never had before.

“We try not to have repeats from year to year,” explains festival organizer Erin Scholze. “We sift through the genres. It seems like this year there are just a lot more successful indie bands.”

Here’s what that evolution looks like: Toubab Krewe headlined in 2005 (along with Strut, stephaniesid, the Great Slide, Cabo Verde, Fifth House, Mad Tea Party, the Buckerettes, Aaron Price and Christina Aurea).

LAAFF Electric Stage 2010

In 2006, Jeremy Long (then-percussionist with Avec La Force Percussion and Dance Initiative) told Xpress, “The planning committee decided LAAFF needed to be more diverse this year.” Enter Flamenco Saltado, Soora Gameela, Baraka Mundi, Banana da Terra, the Shining Rock Reggae Band and Nbale (Newborn Ancient Love Ensemble) with Biko Casini of Strut on West African balaphone — a group formed just for LAAFF.

LAAFF circa 2007 hinted at indie rock — the Sophisticated Chimps fit that bill, along with Speedsquare and Nevada. But the balance was jam, experimental and world music.

“Do everything faster”

… … … … …Check out this portion of the inter view with Kovacs and the Polar Bear here.

Just for LAAFF

Take Nbale. That band formed for LAAFF four years ago after Scholze noticed a number of players (Nbale included Casini, Ryan Reardon, Simon Tisman & Sage Sansome) from various bands waiting out a rainstorm together in a College St. storefront and suggested they try playing together. Another mashup was Sons of a Keeled Over Snake with members of Sons of Ralph, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and Snake Oil Medicine Show.

“We’ve always called it a showcase event,” Scholze says of LAAFF. “You walk up the street and you are going to hear something you never would have heard. It’s a way for the musicians to intermingle with each other as well.”

Asheville Horns LAAFF 2010

Asheville Horns was also born of an opportune moment: A group of local brass players were tapped to record with Laura Reed and Deep Pocket. “Someone said ‘You should become a horn-rental section,’” recalls trombonist Derrick Johnson, whose main gig is with Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band. They did, and putting a bunch of horn players together “gave us a chance to play different types of funk,” says Johnson. Soon, Asheville Horns wasn’t just a brass section for hire, but a band with its own shows.

Johnson, a fan of collaborations, co-created the local Funk Jam (held every Tuesday at the Emerald Lounge) when friends from a Long Beach, Ca.-based funk band were visiting Asheville and looking for a place to jam. Musician/soundman/promoter Frank Bloom offered up Emerald Lounge, and what was meant to be a one-off evolved, over the last two years, into a full-on scene. That scene attracts not just local performers, but touring musicians from bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Galactic and Phish. For new-to-town musicians, “It gave people a chance to get established in the scene,” says Johnson. “People started getting different phone calls for different gigs. It was a card-swapping music exchange.” … Networking for funk players.

A festival that helped build the musical landscape

Dj Candice B at LAAFF 2010

Those kinds of opportunities to meet and mix have changed the sonic topography of Asheville in recent years. When LAAFF started, “People didn’t know each other,” Scholze says. “As the years have gone on, they started doing the funk jam and that brought in people like Vertigo Jazz Band and Matt Williams. That [created] the soul-jazz thing and now they’re cultivating that.” Scenes have formed around common interests, and each scene (jazz, jam, funk, etc.) has its own following. “But I think the next step is for the [various] scenes to start connecting and opening up, maybe connecting the soul-jazz people to the orchestra-jazz people; maybe connecting some of the singer/songwriters to the funk jam,” says Scholze.

So, will next year bring a more decisive move toward indie-rock? Or perhaps an indie/world fusion? Will The Archrivals battle Nataraj? Will Woody Pines bring a DJ on stage? Will Sky Lake add a balaphone to its lineup? Whatever the next LAAFF brings — or this one, for that matter — it’s sure to be a surprise.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/090110rockin-in-the-freak-world

Great writeup on the happenings other than the music at LAAFF. This article also gave a round up of all the LAAFFter parties:

LAAFF: More than music

Vol. 17 / Iss. 06 on 08/31/2010

Interactive

Tall Bike Freak Michael Mooney

• Bike Jousting: Though Michael Mooney’s tall bike will not return to LAAFF this year, his bicycle jousting — a game that Mooney developed specifically for LAAFF — will. Contestants gear up in foam armor, sit astride a bike with a banana saddle and elliptical wheels, and try to dismount their opponent with a boxing glove at the end of a long pole. Fun for kids and adults.
• Big Wheels for Big Kids: This new-to-LAAFF sport was also invented by Mooney and his friends. Adults board low-rider tricycle-like vehicles and race a track made of tires.
• Miss Kitty’s Interactive Arts Area: Made for adults and kids, the arts area features many performers from the ongoing Pritchard Park Cultural Arts Program. Asheville Hoops will be on hand, along with Stina Andersen’s Tunnel of LAAFFs, which gives participants a chance to note what they love about the festival on a CD that is then woven into a bamboo tunnel. Melissa Glaze of the Asheville Mural Project does live painting, Our VOICE organizes a hand-print project and a hope box for survivors of sexual violence. Check out a preview of the upcoming Freaks of Asheville Calendar and hang out in the sideshow world created by Royal Peasantry.

…and more…

Arts

This year, 82 arts and crafts vendors will sell their wares along Lexington Ave. Since the festival’s inception this number has grown along with the square footage of LAAFF itself, which now extends all the way to BoBo Gallery. The number of arts vendors this year exceeds the number represented in this year’s Arts Park at Bele Chere.

Theatre

Catch two very different theatre shows on the LaZoom Bus Traveling Stage: Asheville Playback Theatre…The Feral Chihuahuas…Unifire Theatre…Asheville Vaudeville…Street performers

Dance

There’s more than just music at LAAFF; there’s dance, too. Local movement artists show their stuff — many of these performers also teach classes…Belle Afrique…Asheville Dance Revolution…Asheville Hoops Troupe…Lisa Zahiya hip-hop and bhangra…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE with performer descriptions HERE: http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/090110laaff

Wonderful Local Food at LAAFF:

Festival of Flavor

LAAFF has eats and drinks to keep you dancing

by Mackensy Lunsford in Vol. 17 / Iss. 06 on 08/31/2010

The Hop Ice Cream serving it up

What’s a street festival without food? A grouchy group of drunken zombies, that’s what. Fortunately, for festival-goers, there are plenty of local restaurants available to help soothe the blood-sugar woes at LAAFF. Just what can revelers expect to see and taste?Several Lexington Avenue merchants will be represented at the LAAFF food court, and it’s only fitting — local is what this block party is all about. Look for local buffalo short ribs from the Lexington Avenue Brewery, for example. Want something a bit more exotic? Visit Mela’s booth for a taste of Indian cuisine on the streets of Asheville.

… … …

Plenty of local beer will be available at LAAFF, which should come as no surprise. Should you be teetotalling, however, there are options for you, too. Buchi will be pedaling their special brand of local kombucha, and two lemonade stands will be on hand to slake your thirst sans alcohol.

Enjoy the party — and don’t forget to bring your appetite.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/090110festival-of-flavor

LAAFF stage schedules were laid out here http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/090110laaff-schedules

Full descriptions of the interactivities at 2009 LAAFF. Asheville Hoops, Stina Andersons-The Tunnel of LAAFFs, Melissa Glaze of Asheville Mural Project: Live painter, Freaks of Asheville Calendar Preview, Royal Peasantry and more are all laid out here in the MX  Interactive Arts area Performer Descriptions

LAAFF for the Kids:

Edgy Mama: LAAFFing with kids

by Anne Fitten Glenn on 08/29/2010

Related topics: parenting, Edgy Mama, LAAFF

It’s time again for that funkiest and most family-friendly of Asheville street fests: the Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival, coming to that once raffish downtown area often referred to as Lex this Sunday, Sept. 5.There again will be a multi-tented kids’ area based in the parking lot between Downtown Books & News and Heiwa Japanese Restaurant. For the first time this year, Kids Universe, as it’s been dubbed, is being organized and run by the Asheville-based Earth Fare supermarkets.

READ THE FULL POST HERE: http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/edgy_mama_laaffing_with_kids

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Archive: LAAFF co-founder Kitty Love works to support Asheville’s artists

This is a great article about LAAFF co-Founder and Arts 2 People’s executive director, Kitty Love. I have worked with Kitty for 8+ years now on Arts 2 People and LAAFF as well as other projects and so appreciate the telling of the inception of LAAFF and news on the creation of an artist resource center in Asheville. Great article Jason! There are some long excerpts below, please follow the link to read the full article.

Margaret Lauzon, Kitty Love, and Erin Scholze (Dreamspider) at LAAFF 2009

For Love of Lexington: LAAFF co-founder Kitty Love works to support Asheville’s artists

by Jason Sandford • September 5, 2010 in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Kitty Love enjoys a good freak.

It’s a descriptor she’s adopted for a unique fundraising project and a noun a neutral observer might use for some of the clients who come into the Liquid Dragon tattoo shop she works out of on Lexington Avenue.

… …

“Anybody can be a freak,” Love said. “It’s just a way to describe who’s being their authentic selves.”

And it’s those emerging artists and creative types who help make Asheville the tourism destination it is, she added.

That’s why she’s spent the better part of the past decade supporting and promoting artists as executive director of the nonprofit Arts 2 People, as a staunch advocate for the creation of an artists resource center and as the promoter of sideline projects such as the “Freaks of Asheville” calendar and the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival .

…   …   …

Having a LAAFF

Love knew Lexington Avenue had something in its eclectic collection of independently owned clothing stores, record shops and restaurants. Love says she saw “a loose conglomeration of individuals coming together to share their unique perspectives in a way that is culture-changing.”

Love and her partner at the time, Michael Mooney, opened Sky People Gallery and Studio on the street. The gallery opened about a month before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The economy sputtered, so Love says she and Mooney dreamed up the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival the following year to give the area a boost.

“We really wanted to see that Lexington Avenue culture grow without getting gentrified,” Love says.

More an anything-goes block party than an official festival, the event took root with street games like Bowling for Karma — knock over the right Hindu god and erase that awful sin — and Baby-head Putt Putt.

Now in its ninth year, LAAFF is a full-blown, daylong event known for embracing Asheville’s freaky side.

“LAAFF is meant to show that individual self-expression is actually a more attractive product” than other festivals with a more corporate flavor, Love said.

Resources for artists

The Lexington Avenue festival is perhaps the most visible manifestation of Love’s passion, but she’s been working to support young artists through the nonprofit Arts 2 People she leads, and through the ongoing effort to create an artists resource center.

…   …

Arts 2 People, which survives on a shoestring budget, includes outreach and education projects. Love readily admits she doesn’t have the best skills when it comes to raising money and jokes that she needs a “development angel” to swoop in and help.

Love’s dream of creating an artists resource center may strike at her heart the deepest.

She said her mantra is “the wisdom is in the circle,” a guidepost for creating an umbrella organization that can offer young artist-entrepreneurs a wide range of support they need.

It will be “a professional development resource center” that can offer tips on where to find rental space, equipment or specific training, she said.

“When you’re someone who makes pots, that’s what you want to do. But you need to take pictures of your pots to market them, and you need to make business cards with pots on them to network,” Love said.

A resource center could also help identify the exact number of artists in Asheville — she guesses the number at between 6,000 and 8,000 — and the true economic impact they have.

Such a study would go a long way toward cementing the importance of artists to the local economy in the minds of decision-makers, she said.

For Love, it’s all about putting a face on Asheville’s artist-entrepreneurs — Asheville’s freaks, as it were.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100905/NEWS/309050022

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Volunteer with LAAFF in Asheville Sunday, September 5th

You can register to volunteer through this link Now Scheduling Volunteers for LAAFF 2010 September 5, 2010 11am-9pm There are several opportunities to volunteer… Perks include free t-shirt, drink tickets and invitation to the volunteer appreciation party! *Beer and Wine *Hospitality *Set up (shift begins at 7:30) *Break Down *Information Booth *Merchandise Booth *Barricade Watch Volunteer shifts are as follows… Early shift- 11am-3pm (check in at 10:45) Mid Shift 3pm-6pm (check in at 2:45) Late Shift 6pm-9:30 breakdown(check in at 5:45) First time volunteers are welcome…Sign up with a Friend! Please send your first three requests of WHICH JOB and WHICH SHIFT! We will be scheduling on a first response basis, so please respond to volunteerwithLAAFF@hotmail.com or the registration form as soon as possible! Feel free to email with questions. I will personally respond to each email with schedule confirmation! Thank you so much for helping put on the best LOCAL festival in NC! — Erin Walker volunteerwithLAAFF@hotmail.com registration form

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Announcing the 9th Annual Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival ~ Downtown Asheville ~ Sunday, Sept 5th, Free!

Sunday, September 5, 2010
Labor Day Weekend
All Local ~ All Original

11am – 9pm
~ FREE and Kid Friendly~
director@lexfestasheville.com
North Lexington Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
www.arts2people.org
www.lexfestasheville.com

Join us in the annual FREE end-of-summer celebration of Asheville’s artistic and musical communities, The Lexington Ave Arts and Fun Festival. LAAFF is entering our 9th year of filling three blocks of N. Lexington Ave in downtown with all local art, food, beer, music, street performers, and random acts of creativity. LAAFF takes place on Sunday, September 5th, 2010.

LAAFF has become the showcase event for all types of talent on multiple stages and performance areas including rock and roll, indie pop, funk, folk, reggae, world beats, singer-songwriters, bluegrass, old time, African drummers, clowns, magicians, contortionists, belly dancers, modern dancers, vaudeville actors, break dancers, hula hoopers, and more. LAAFF has grown over the years to become known as Asheville’s largest independent street festival with upwards of 15,000 in attendance.

LAAFF is an experience the whole family can get into. Kids will love making art, dancing, getting their faces painted and having fun all day long. Kids are also in on the act showing off their breakdancing, parading, and making music. The big “kids” will enjoy the ever popular bicycle jousting, local brews provided by the Asheville Brewers Alliance, an eclectic culinary and artistic experience, as well as the new big people game: Big Wheels for Big Kids. There will be lots of fun new vendors as well as old favorites with a ton of variety.

Created specifically for LAAFF by Co-Founder Michael Mooney, LAAFF’s ever popular Bicycle Jousting is always a mainstay attraction! This is a fun and safe bike joust where contestants are armored up with foam and helmets. The sit upon bike with banana seats and wheel with elliptical hubs which make the bike bounce up and down like riding on a horse. Each contestant holds a long pole with a boxing glove on the end..If they can reach each other they try and joust the other off the bike. It is extremely fun to watch and a great activity that Michael created as an event at LAAFF. To see the gear in advance go to Pack Place’s Front Gallery… will you dare to ride?

LaZoom Tour Bus hosts a rolling LAAFF theatre for the day! If you just want to enjoy an easy going ride… LaZoom has traveling sideshows with a variety of acts (Including kids acts and adult only acts) throughout the day in 40 minute loops around Asheville. This is set up as an affordable way to fund-raise at LAAFF with extra entertainment to the festival.

Various arts schools and organizations have in the past teamed up to create the LAAFF Kids area. There is always face painting and a chill out zone for parents with babies who may need to sit down and relax, breastfeed, or change a diaper.

As part of an ongoing commitment to improve and expand the role of the Lexington Avenue Arts Festival in the community, greening efforts and more emphasis on environmental issues will continue to increase. The core principle of being an all local event has been a foundation of the festival’s efforts to support local artists, musicians, restaurants, and non-profits. For instance, using water sales as a way for local non-profits to raise funds and involving the Asheville On Bikes organization to host a bike corral, encouraging participants in the festival to ride bikes, use public transportation, and carpool to limit their impact. Reducing waste has always been an important goal, and last year composting was added to the recycling and reuse efforts. Many of the food and beverage vendors are now using compostable cups and utensils. The festival will continue to include local non-profits, especially environmental and arts organizations and hopefully will showcase renewable energy in LAAFF’s to come. For more info email greening@lexfestasheville.com.

LAAFF also has a great merchandise area with LAAFF T-shirts, water bottles, and performer merchandise. 100% of performer merch proceeds goes back to the bands themselves. There is also a silent auction to raise fund for Arts 2 People of which some donated items are available to see on our “silent auction” page of this website. We accepting items up through the morning of the festival each year. Email vending@lexfestasheville.com if you would like to donate or be a vendor at the event.

LAAFF relies on community support to ensure our success each year. LAAFF is a volunteer driven event, with a core staff, put on by and for the community. Your tax-deductible contribution ensures the ongoing successes of this much anticipated yearly Asheville celebration. LAAFF is a project of 501(c)3 non-profit Arts 2 People.

To get involved email director@lexfestasheville.com for info on how to plug in. For publicity inquiries please email dreamspider@gmail.com.

FIND LAAFF on the web:



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Asheville Mural Project’s Lexington Gateway Mural: A Sneak Peek !

Asheville Mural Project: A Sneak Peek!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
7-10 pm
19 Carolina Lane, Grace Studios

Arts 2 People has officially announced a sneak-peek event unveiling the finished “Chess Players” piece of the Lexington Gateway Mural destined for the Broadway/Merrimon side of the project.

The mural for the Broadway/Merrimon side has been done using a technique known as merouflage, painting on cloth, and will be hung to be viewed for the first time at Grace Studios for the event.

The $25 event ticket includes catering by Mela and locally crafted beer from the Lexington Avenue Brewery, and one raffle ticket for a beautiful piece of furniture donated by Terra Nostra Decor.  Entertainment by members of Seduction Sideshow and The Pond Brothers. The muralists will be present to meet and greet supporters. All proceeds from the event will be used to complete the mural!

The Lexington Gateway muralists are Trish Tripp, Kurt Thaesler , Harper Leich , Melissa Glaze, Steve Lister, Daniel Beck, Molly Must, and Ian Wilkinson

The Asheville Mural Project , a program of Arts 2 People , exists to beautify and diversify Asheville’s urban landscape, providing artists and local community members with the opportunity to implement their own public art. Murals enhance quality of life and create an artful metropolitan experience through the transformation of conventional architecture. The murals are both the testimony and celebration of a lively local arts culture.

They are working to complete a section featuring two chess players engaged in play. The inspiration for this work comes from two gentleman that play in Pritchard Park daily in the warm months. The idea is to celebrate and sort of deify these two fellows for being a fundamental but potentially overlooked aspect of Asheville’s Downtown culture . It is a goal of our artist designers to accentuate things that are defining elements  of Asheville. The large format of our public works is a great way to magnify important things that normal passersby might miss.

The opposing mural on Merrimon’s west side will celebrate our agricultural importance, viability, and  how sustainability is an important part of Asheville culture. This mural designed by Trish Tripp , and Melissa Glaze is underway in our studio in the River Arts District.

Recently the mural project as a whole has switched mural techniques . The first half of the project was completed using  a more  traditional approach of painting directly on the surface of the bridge. Now we have adopted an old technique called marouflage.  This method of painting murals on canvas like materials and laminating to a prepared surface has been improved greatly with the  advent of modern materials. It creates a strong, long lasting mural and allows artist to work continuously through months when weather wouldn’t usually permit. There are numerous benefits to this technique  and it has greatly improved the production and efficiency of our work. The Mural Project artists are too many to list because we employ the help of many different groups; from graffiti artist, to volunteers, Warren Wilson students and local “at risk” youth groups etc. Above is a list of our core artist that  can be accredited not only with designing and painting for this project, but really giving their hearts and souls to this endeavor.

The Asheville Mural Project is Directed by Molly Must and Ian Wilkinson.

Contact:

Arts 2 People
The Asheville Mural Project
Kitty Love, Executive Director
kitty@arts2people.org
(828) 216-8815

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LAAFF fills downtown streets with artistic variety

By Noor Al-Sibai

naalsiba@unca.edu

Published: Thursday, September 10, 2009

UNCA’s The Blue Banner

www.thebluebanner.net

Photo by Emily Kerrr

LAAFF 2009

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Fairy wings, rainbow-hued hair, pirate attire and other sundry modes of dress adorned this year’s Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival. Festival-goers, artists and vendors alike said LAAFF is the most local of happenings in Asheville.

LAAFF ran from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The three stages, two courtyards, 60 vendors and six bus tours made LAAFF a success, according to PR director Erin Scholze.

“The community really owns it, which is amazing” said Scholze.

The stages, placed at various locations on Lexington Avenue, were the Greenlife Electric stage, the Mountain Xpress Walnut stage and the BoBo Gallery stage.

Each stage offered up a variety of local and national acts, from Pierce Edens to the nationally acclaimed Blue Rags.

“There’s no such thing as free time, and I’m not so sure about luck. There’s no easy way to break up,” sang Shane Conerty and female lead singer Dulci as their band, Now You See Them, played the Mountain Xpress stage.

Listeners at New You See Them show included a couple from Knoxville, Tenn. who came to LAAFF exclusively for the band and for beer, and a baby with a mohawk who split his time between schmoozing with the audience and lead singer Conerty.

Now You See Them, originally from Pennsylvania, were very excited to play LAAFF according to drummer Jason Mercer.

Down the street and a few hours later, Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel of Mad Tea Party ravaged the crowd as various fairy-winged women boogied like zombies alongside men in skirts and face-painted children.

Around sunset at the BoBo stage, acoustic singer-songwriter Angi West captivated the crowd with a voice reminiscent of folk singer Joanna Newsom as fans lounged on the street.

West’s breathy, gospel-tinged vocals accentuated the dwindling sunlight and the ambiance it created during the festival.

The cross-legged audience sat in a hush as Mad Tea Party’s vocalist smiled near the sound booth.

Songwriter’s circle at Liquid Dragon Tattoo’s courtyard had the appearance of spontaneity as local songwriters democratically performed acoustic versions of their own music.

“It’s just amazing to hear a person with their instrument and their song” said Rory Carroll, a local performer.

Cello during Ash Devine’s haunting performance flowed with Carroll’s bluesy voice, while Now You See Them’s Conerty brought about an upbeat note.

“I’m so grateful to be a part of this community,” Carroll said.

Indeed, community was a dominant theme at LAAFF.

Groups of friends gathered on the street and in front of stages, parents and children conversed with other families, and strangers stopped to talk to not only those dressed outlandishly, but to offer genuine compliments to each other.

The party atmosphere was supported by the nature of the goods being sold.

Booths selling handmade jewelry and local foods were flanked by vendors selling clothes both tie-dye and hand-printed, as well as novelty stands selling paintings and pottery.

One such stand was a man with the bottle cap truck, a mainstay at arts festivals such as LEAF, whose proprietor was wearing a white tailcoat with multicolored fuzzy craft balls.

The eccentric attire of many of the festival goers fazed none, and were even considered by some to be beautiful.

“The most beautiful thing I saw was a woman with curly hair down to her knees” said Tommy, a local attendee. “She was slow-dancing.”

Alongside festival-billed oddities such as bike jousting were many impromptu happenings, a symbiosis of street performances and participating spectators.

Near Spiritex clothing store, a woman played harpsichord for hours while another woman played a silver painted snare drum.

The performance art of LAAFF did not end with musicians. There were at least three people on stilts roaming the festival at their leisure, sometimes stopping to pose with other personalities, and otherwise perpetuating the carnival atmosphere the festival created.

Another of the festival’s main draws was the beer.

Eight local breweries supplied LAAFF attendees with enough plastic cups to need “compost only” trash-cans.

The community building reached beyond Lexington Avenue.

Various shops sold scraps of fabric and took donations to support Responsive Education Accessing Creativity for Healing, or REACH, a program for battered women.

LAAFF’s impact varies almost as much as the outfits of those who attend, but they all agree on at least one note: Ashevillians, out-of-towners and artists alike love LAAFF.

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AskAsheville interview with LAAFF organizer 2009

by AskAsheville

The Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival is going to be awesome! Here is Erin of http://twitter.com/dreamspiderweb Dreamspider Publicity in Asheville, NC telling us about the plans for the day. LAAFF is on September 6, 2009 in the downtown area. Thousand and thousands of people will be there. We expect a social bloom to happen in the area at this event. Make plans to come out and attend LAAFF in Asheville!!!

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Archive: LAAFF 2009 Mountain Xpress Cover

Cover Art by The Mountain Xpress. Photo by Jonathan Welch

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